[Aim and functioning of the attending staff of geriatric hospitals]

After having described the situation of the elderly in general and more specifically at the Geriatric Hospital which is a part of the Geriatric institutions of Geneva, the authors remind of the concept regarding the integrated medicine of Prof. J. -P. Junod, their head physician: "The contribution of psychiatry to the entire field of geriatry assumes an essential and irreplaceable character. This major contribution aims to convert it into a really integrated branch of medicine. "Integrated medicine consists in a therapeutic treatment applied by a multidisciplinary staff and aimed at the patient in general. Geriatry requires a global approach of the case taking in consideration the great many medical, psychological, family or social factors which enable to establish a prognosis as well as a therapeutic programme. This integrated medicine is also applied in cooperation with and for the benefit of the attending staff, who finds personal and professional reward within the combination of following three factors: education, therapy and research, which in turn institution, the geriatry as well as for the gerontology in general.